Tag Archives: cold chain

Switzerland has around a dozen duty-free warehouses. These warehouses are transit zones for the storage of goods whose main advantages are the temporary suspension of customs law and taxes. They benefit not only from a location in the heart of Europe, but also from legal and political stability. The company Ports Francs et Entrepôts de Genève SA, is based in La Praille, where it manages a floor space of 150 000 m², half of which under the Swiss customs regime (duty-free).

To ensure it is able to meet high standards in quality and security, Ports Francs opened a new warehouse in 2014. It was specially designed to store valuable products in accordance with the requirements of insurers. To establish the necessary climatic conditions, RotronicHF1temperature and humidity transmitters were installed to enable control of the optimum storage climate.

Hygroflex Transmitters HF1 Series

1000 commercial premises in La Praille
There are currently 10 duty-free warehouses in Switzerland. Duty-free warehouses are usually located near national borders and airports. In contrast to most other countries, there is no time limit for storage in Swiss duty-free warehouses for goods not stemming from Switzerland. In 1888 the canton parliament approved the establishment of the operating company Ports Francs de Genève SA, which was later renamed to Ports Francs et Entrepôtsde Genève (PFEG).

Ports Francs et Entrepôtsde Genève

There are almost 1000 commercial premises of all sizes available in la Praille. The type of goods stored in duty-free warehouses has changed immensely over the years. The
strong development in the art and wine market has given rise to special security and quality requirements concerning,in the first instance, storage conditions (temperature, humidity and vibrations). The new warehouse building, designed in collaboration with specialised contractors, was inaugurated in 2014. The building, which serves mainly to store valuables such as antiques, works of art and wine, is the result of close co-operation between various specialists in security issues, insurance, energy and architecture as well as the end users. The numerous elements listed in the requirement specification included the critical details relating to climatic conditions (temperature and humidity) in the building’s storage rooms.

Like in our wine cellars
To ensure a high standard of quality and security, Ports Francs et Entrepôts de Genève SA approached the Zurich-based company Rotronic AG in Bassersdorf. “We need precise and stable measuring instruments,” says technical director Marc Golay. The building concerned is equipped not only with a ventilation and air-conditioning system (humidity and temperature), but also with a central building management system utilising the concepts of MSR (measuring, control and regulation). The building is divided into two large parts. The first is for storage of wine in accordance with applicable regulations (70% humidity, 13°C), as in the cellars of our forefathers. The second part is reserved for sensitive and valuable goods, primarily paintings (55% humidity, 21°C). “Since it was one of the main aspects of the building concept, we also wanted to have the possibility to trace the climatic conditions during storage.” This very functional location enables arrival of the goods by road with a loading platform and direct access to the premises. Equipment rooms, escape routes, freight elevators, elevators and sanitary facilities round off the building. “We wanted a system able to maintain a constant level of humidity and a constant temperature everywhere and at any time of the year. To ensure control and logging of these parameters, we opted for the measuring instruments from Rotronic”, adds Marc Golay.

Rotronic transmitters
Depending on the storage area of the goods, it is not always easy to check whether ventilation and air replacement are working effectively everywhere. The solution was to utilise 227 Rotronic HF1 transmitters within the complete premises. The instruments are monitored remotely by the MSR system from the Geneva manufacturers EnerBat – a specialist in the technical and energy monitoring in buildings – the system checks daily that the temperature and humidity requirements are being met. Since the building was designed to guarantee the best storage conditions, it does not have any windows so that the climatic conditions can be kept as stable as possible. To improve security for protection and prevention of fires, all stores are equipped with a common, dedicated gas extinguishing system.

The importance of using measuring equipment
Why was Rotronic preferred over other companies?

“It is a company with an excellent reputation that takes action immediately when necessary. It is extremely important that the probes work reliably and accurately as they deliver all the information on the climatic conditions in the building,” explains the technical director. Thus the importance of the measurements. The wall mount T/rh probes for the duty-free warehouse were fastened to the walls at a height of about 150 cm from the floor. They enable control of the temperature and humidity in the room air and emit a warning signal when limits are exceeded. The probes are also connected to the wider systems via analogue and digital outputs and finally integrated in a Scada monitoring system. “We decided to use the products from Rotronic because they were the best value for money,” says Fabien Caradot from Elitec. “There were of course other possibilities, but at the same price Rotronic scored higher with its HF1 product range in terms of quality, reliability of the material, technical support and calibration.” Elitec, which originally worked in the manufacture of electrical switchboards, today employs around 20 people and rounds off its portfolio of services with the fields of building automation, home automation and various inspection services such as technical and schematic analyses.

The Probes used the get the perfect temperature and Air humidity for Ports France et Entrepôts de Genève SA

Rotronic is proud to be able to offer an increasing range of products and services to meet the demands of our customers. The requirements for mapping especially thermal mapping are increasing dramatically in food, pharma and cosmetics production and transport industries.

But what is Thermal Mapping?
Mapping is the process of determining the temperature and often humidity gradients within a defined space. It is a vital process when the product is regulated by government agencies such as the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) or the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Regulated materials must not exceed strict storage conditions. Fixed limits will typically exist for humidity and temperature both in terms of the absolute value and also the allowable rates of change. Mapping serves as a baseline for proving compliance within the storage spaces.

The reason for increasing regulatory compliance is to ensure products do not spoil or otherwise degrade during production, storage and transport. Warehouses are notorious for having warm or cold spots that are outside of the regular control specification. A proper mapping study serves to locate these spots and either modify or avoid the problem area. Similar problems can occur during transportation so increasingly transport is at least monitored if not fully controlled and mapped.

At 4.3 million square feet, the largest warehouse in the world is the Boeing Everett factory in Everett, WA USA. It was originally designed to construct the Boeing 747.

An FDA Form 483 is issued to a company’s management at the conclusion of an inspection when an investigator(s) has observed any conditions that in their judgement may constitute violations of the Food Drug and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act and related Acts.

Mapping in GeneralA mapping strategy is needed for several reasons. It is important for regulators or quality managers to understand the philosophy employed for the mapping. A documented strategy will decrease questions from any regulators reviewing your mapping study. The strategy document also helps them understand the data that is produced by the mapping process. The document acts as a tool for collaboration as other people may suggest ideas that will make your study produce better data or make your effort more efficient.

As the mapping study progresses from start to finish, the strategy document acts as your reference guide, ensuring you remain true to the agreed upon process and do not make changes that will negatively affect the study. A typical strategy is usually comprised of a few written paragraphs that includes a description of the warehouse space, the type of equipment used, the number of sensors to be used, a general idea of the sensor placement, and the duration of the study. It is not unusual for the mapping strategy to change as it evolves. Writing a detailed document at the early stages of the project may cause re-writes that can increase the total length of the project. It is usually more efficient to fully document the warehouse mapping project after the strategy is agreed. Think of the strategy document as a proposal for your mapping team or the approval team so they can buy into and understand your mapping strategy. It may also facilitate the final approval stage, later in the project, because the auditor already understands the warehouse mapping project.

Continuous Monitoring After the Warehouse Mapping
Continuous monitoring is a best practice within controlled and regulated spaces. The mapping study will determine the hot and cold zones for “worst case” sensor placement. These worst case locations should be considered when installing a permanent, continuous monitoring system. The number of sensors used for a permanent system will be far fewer than what is required for the mapping study. In some cases, continuous monitoring may require only a few sensors once the problem areas have been determined through the mapping study. A continuous monitoring system offers peace of mind as product components, manufacturing space, or storage space are maintained and on record as meeting specified environmental conditions.

If you have any queries regarding warehouse mapping feel to get in touch and we will be happy to discuss!